“Thoughts and prayers never did anything, it’s time to take action.” I recently came across this idea and wondered why it bothered me. After another series of killing sprees, many try to reconcile the nonsensical nature of these acts. Is there truth in this statement? Why has this been weighing on my heart?
I understand the sentiment behind the post. People are hurt, feeling helpless, worried, unsure, and disempowered. It is uncomfortable to see lives end without a rational explanation. I imagine because as a whole, we are good at heart, we empathize with those whose lives are forever changed.
I am frustrated by the idea that thoughts and prayers do nothing. Any outpouring of kindness and love is important and welcomed by those who grieve. When people shared love and stories of my father after he passed, I felt their kindness and my heart was receptive to hearing from strangers about their fondest memories of my father. Lynne McTaggart spent 8 years studying the power of intention, showing not only were there measurable improvements for the person at the center of the prayer, but that people holding the intention received measurable benefits in their lives as well.
In my experience, disempowered action never yielded positive results, and often ended in greater suffering. This month I participated in many veteran events as the recipient of people’s kindness. There was such gratitude and appreciation shared, and these events helped lead to my reconciliation of the above idea. Each of the events began as a small gesture of appreciation that has since flourished.
I remembered a story I heard a few months back from Quilts of Valor, a small organization that awards handmade quilts for deploying and returned veterans. The founder, a mother of an Iraqi War veteran, sensed the hardship of war in her son’s voice. Wondering what she could do, she created and shipped him a quilt, hoping it might provide a sense of home and security. The project grew as soldiers asked for similar gifts of love. From this organic group of volunteers, one of their quilts made it into the possession of a suicidal vet.
As this young veteran closed her curtains, the light between the slits shone directly onto the quilt in the chair. Deciding to wrap herself in the quilt before she took the bottle of pills, she recalls the quilt felt like being embraced by a hundred hugs. That quilt saved her life.
Quantum Physics proves much of our spiritual knowledge. Good thoughts and prayers increase feelings of love and blessings. This energy becomes part of what we create and allows us the ability to accept and embrace different perspectives. From here, we are then able to generate inspiration to create positive change in the world – the type of enduring change that empowers. It frees us to find lasting solutions, paving the way for unique, purposeful, inspired action.
Original article appears in Sibyl Magazine: For the Spirit and Soul of Womanwww.SibellaPublications.com
